Coffee van conversion

Jason_Arch

A bit of a semi-hypothetical one here.

A friend of mine is thinking of running a coffee van. He is weighing up his options and one of them is converting something like a Toyota Dyna with a timber framed structure on the back. There's loads of examples online of this being done so I think technically it is possible on a vehicle like this. Lets assume that it's all designed well and is built strong enough and wired and plumbed correctly etc., what would be the implication of a conversion like that for the CVRT? Would it need sign off from an engineer before they would even look at it? What is the procedure for the likes of a camper conversion on a van?

Buford T Justice

Jason_Arch wrote: »

A bit of a semi-hypothetical one here.

A friend of mine is thinking of running a coffee van. He is weighing up his options and one of them is converting something like a Toyota Dyna with a timber framed structure on the back. There's loads of examples online of this being done so I think technically it is possible on a vehicle like this. Lets assume that it's all designed well and is built strong enough and wired and plumbed correctly etc., what would be the implication of a conversion like that for the CVRT? Would it need sign off from an engineer before they would even look at it? What is the procedure for the likes of a camper conversion on a van?

Firstly, let's assume that you are converting a vehicle that's already classified as commercial.

What are you looking to re-classify it as?

Jason_Arch

Buford T Justice wrote: »

Firstly, let's assume that you are converting a vehicle that's already classified as commercial.

What are you looking to re-classify it as?

Yeah it would be a commercial vehicle meaning no re-classification required.

My question is more related to the CVRT side of things. How deeply would the tester go into the conversion - i.e. structural integrity of new build, electrical installation, plumbing, wastewater etc.? Would these things need independently signed off by an engineer?

Also, to what extent would modifications to the vehicle be allowed? For example, say we wanted to mount the rear lights on a new surface which is slightly further back than what came from factory, I'd assume as long as all the lights are present and correct that shouldn't be an issue?

Buford T Justice

Jason_Arch wrote: »

Yeah it would be a commercial vehicle meaning no re-classification required.

My question is more related to the CVRT side of things. How deeply would the tester go into the conversion - i.e. structural integrity of new build, electrical installation, plumbing, wastewater etc.? Would these things need independently signed off by an engineer?

Also, to what extent would modifications to the vehicle be allowed? For example, say we wanted to mount the rear lights on a new surface which is slightly further back than what came from factory, I'd assume as long as all the lights are present and correct that shouldn't be an issue?

Electrics won't matter for the test as far as I know. It'll just be tested as a commercial vehicle. You may need certification for the electrics to satisfy your insurance, however.

spaceHopper

Would it be over 3.5 tonnes will they need a C license